Bridgewater Airbnb, Short-Term Rental Ordinance Is A 'Stop Gap Remedy'

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — For the past four months the Bridgewater Council has been struggling to create a new ordinance to crack down against Airbnb and short-term rentals in the Township following concerns of transients and strangers.

"It's become complex. The concern is we need to get it right but with that said we want to without question stop the bad behavior," said Council President Michael Kirsh at the Sept. 21 meeting.

The new ordinance, only impacting the R-50 zone of the township, was introduced but not before much discussion by council members.

Township Administrator Michael Pappas explained that the ordinance is targeting the R-50 zone, which primarily borders Bernards Township, Warren Township, and Green Brook Township. However, there are plans to expand the ordinance to cover the entire township.

"The most egregious scenario and location of where we are aware of violations of the existing ordinances is in the R-50 zone," said Pappas. "This is an ongoing process. The properties where by far the most complaints are are in the zone in question here. A zone where no member of this council lives. This is a very targeted stop-gap remedy and these discussions will continue well into the months to come to craft a remedy that is right for Bridgewater. This is to solve a very specific problem in a very specific neighborhood."

Bridgewater began looking to put in more regulations against Airbnb and short-term rentals in July after concerns of transients and strangers arriving on an almost daily basis to one neighborhood were raised by residents.

Kirsh said this ordinance is a first step targeted at the "location that seems to be attracting this behavior, but this is certainly not the last time we anticipate focusing on this."

Councilman Allen Kurdyla expressed his disappointment with the ordinance not encompassing the entire township.

"While I agree that this is a very difficult issue to deal with, I am disappointed we are voting on an ordinance the way it is worded. While I understand the intent is to work on the immediate problem that is located in an R-50 zone... We represent almost 47,000 people and most of them do not live in R-50 zones. And we all share the opinions that whatever we do in legislation for our Town of Bridgewater it has to affect everybody," said Kurdyla.

Councilman Howard Norgalis also was unhappy with the ordinance saying it "sounded too much like spot zoning."

"Specifically allocating this to the R-50 zone doesn't feel comfortable for me. I would rather wait and spend the time - whatever time it takes, to make this thing happen for the entire township," said Norgalis.

Council Vice President Timothy Ring agreed that the council needs to come up with an ordinance that addresses this issue overall. He also added that it is a "fine balance."

"Residents have a right to use their property and then on the flip side we have folks using their property and turning a home into basically a boarding home with 10 different apartments," said Ring. "It is not an easy fix. I firmly believe that we need to get it right but also understand that we have 2 or 3 problem children in the township that are creating some issues as it relates to our residents. So we have to balance that here."

As a volunteer EMT, Ring added that "we have some bleeding going on. We are putting a Band-Aid on when we need to come up with a tourniquet and fix this problem overall."

The introduction of the ordinance was passed, with Kirsh, Ring, and Kurdyla voting yes and Norglais voting no. Councilman Filipe Pedroso was not at the meeting.

The ordinance will now go before the Planning Board for their referral at their Oct. 3 meeting. If approved it will return to the Council for a second reading and public hearing at the Oct. 5 Council meeting at 7:30 p.m.

See the introduced ordinance below:

Bridgewater Township Introduced Ordinance 11a by Alexis Tarrazi on Scribd

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• See Related: Concerns Of Strangers, Transients Prompt Bridgewater To Limit Airbnbs
• Related: Bridgewater's Crackdown On Airbnbs, Short-Term Rentals Needs More Work
• Related: Efforts To Restrict Bridgewater Airbnbs, Short-Term Rentals Continues

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